Chapter Text
It was a dark night. Not many stars were present at the sky. The cold breeze was blowing whispers, circling the trees while the leaves danced along, each of them falling slowly, one after the other, covering the bases of the plants; some falling on the sidewalk as Bin walked by slowly, savoring the chill on a breezy winter night.
He was walking back from the convenience store. With a bag full of nesquick on one hand, he hummed to the tune of his favorite song, taking his steps lightly. Looking up, he allowed his eyes to fixate on the yellowish glow of the perfectly round moon.
Bin wondered how could a mesmerizing creation exist in a world full of mere human beings.
He lowered his gaze as he noticed the stoplight. He decided to cross the pedestrian lane under it. His dorm was still one corner away, but Bin thought why not, as it did not really make any difference.
He stepped on the lane with his right foot first, and then the left. Then the right again, and the left. Once more, with his right foot he took a step, before noticing with his peripheral vision a pair of bright lights. It was still quite far from him, Bin estimated, but he wondered. About what? He wasn't exactly sure hinself, but he did, and that stopped him from moving.
Until the lights came closer. And closer.
He was still standing at the middle of the street. Unmoving. The car was close enough for him to make out few details of it despite the darkness around him. Fear and panic shot through his head, but his feet felt rooted to the cemented road.
Bin was shaking. His whole body sweating. The night breeze made him feel colder than he already was.
Closer. Closer.
He tried to move, the bag of nesquick now on the ground as Bin used both of his hands to lift his legs; to make it take those remaining steps to reach the other side of the street.
He was now hearing the engine, so close it was vibrating through all of his muscles, and when he looked up on the coming vehicle, all he could see now were two lights, as bright as the moon he had been staring at a few moments ago, before crossing the road, before feeling the fear, before everything turned black.
■
Bin woke up, feeling the cold sweat dripping from every pore of his skin. He has been having these nightmares for over two months now. It started with a simple dream of walking in the middle of the night, and gradually, as if a story was being told, more details appear, like a movie unveiling its plot. Only this time, it was all in Bin's head.
Today is his first day back to school. He grabbed his bag to check if his things are ready, before heading to the bathroom to wash the sweat, and the fear off his body.
■
"I'm gonna be late."
Bin, barely forming the words from his bread-stuffed mouth, dashed out of his house, but not before hearing the shower running from the first-floor bathroom. Must be his mother, he thought.
He user to live in an all-boys dormitory at the other side of the block. It was much nearer to the university, but since he filed for a temporary leave of absence at his school, he went back to living with his family. Bin made a mental note to ask his parents if they would allow him to go back to the dormitories again soon, because this late trips to school could cost him demerits in his morning classes.
"I wonder if I'll see any friends today. Maybe Minhyuk."
He is nervous. He wasn't exactly sure why, but Bin felt a certain level of discomfort at the thought of attending irregular classes, which means he would not be with his circle of friends. At times like this, the first person that comes to his mind is Minhyuk, a friend one year younger than him, but exudes so much confidence and individuality. He is also very talented too; the best student in the dance course, Bin certainly looks up to him.
The usual 10 minutes walk to school became almost 30 minutes, but he can already see the west building of their school. He ought to run, but decided he wanted time to relax himself. He felt like it has been a long while since he attended school, so he tried to clear his mind of any thoughts in hopes of having a refreshing and stress-free day. He continued walking, wanted to be chirpy but he has to admit he is not good at it. There are now more and more students walking with him as he got nearer to the gate, until he heard the sound of metal door being propped up. He looked at the direction where it came from, and saw a man, quite smaller in build compared to him, opening a what seemed to be a bakeshop. It was his first time seeing the man and the shop, which Bin found strange because although he used to live at the dorms, he surely should have seen them atleast once while going to and from school.
He was still wondering when a guy bumped his shoulders. It wasn't really a hard bump, but the person, most likely a student apologized anyway, and any lingering thoughts about the mystery shop and its owner vanished from Bin's head, his mind now focused on his first class.
■
The day is dreadful, Bin thought, as he made his way to a table under one of the bigger trees in the campus grounds. He was supposed to have two morning classes: first one was cancelled for the professor wasn't around, which was good since Bin came in late. It was supposed to be good, but until his second class nobody bothered to talk to him. He was pretty sure not one of the students even looked at him or meet his eyes.
"Who knew three months was long enough for people to forget you."
So far Bin hasn't seen a friend of his. Even Minhyuk, who was always diligent in attending school was nowhere to be found. He was starting to think that this is offiicially one of his worst days as he indulged in the curry meal he packed for himself. It was one he found in their fridge, and since his mom was taking a bath before he left, he decided to just grab the food and head out.
He was chewing on a large chunk of potato while observing co-students wandering, eating, chatting, laughing, when he saw a familiar man talking to the head of their school cafeteria.
The shop owner.
He was waiting for the head to finish signing something. They seemed to be having a conversation, with the mystery shop owner holding a smile the entire time.
Bin was captivated. The cafeteria head seemed to like the guy too. He thought who wouldn't, since he has such a nice smile. And now that he got to get a good look at his face, the smaller man is undeniably good-looking. Yes he's handsome, but Bin decided pretty is a more suitable adjective for the man's looks, and that his best features would be his smiling eyes and plump lips.
Bin was now staring. He was aware, but couldn't stop himself, until the mystery shop owner looked at his direction and landed an eye contact with him. This made Bin tuck his head down low, almost reaching the food in front of him. He continued eating, not daring to steal another look at the gorgeous man. He was barely chewing at this point, and just wanted to finish his food and leave before he starts wishing for the ground to eat him up. One last spoonful of rice and he would be done.
"Hi."
Bin tensed. Who is this, he thought, beautiful mystery shop owner?
He looked up and saw a guy with a similarly smaller built compared to his own.
No, not the gorgeous mystery guy.
"Hello."
A long silence followed. Bin was internally panicking, thinking why hasn't this guy said anything to him. He was the one who came up to him and start a conversation, and now he is not talking.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Ah."
The other guy seemed perplexed at the question. Then instantly he became shy. He was wearing round glasses, covering his small eyes, holding its place on top of his nose. He has a plaided blue long-sleeved polo on top of a white round-neck shirt. Bin continued observing him as he waits for him to answer.
"I just.. I saw you eating alone. And.."
"And?"
"Somehow I'm all alone today too, so I thought maybe we could be alone together?"
"That's.. a weird way to ask a person to be friends with you."
The smaller guy just stared at his eyes with his mouth opened in a tiny o. Bin wondered, had he said it wrong? It was supposed to be a joke, though there was this one time when Minhyuk told him there are people who thought he was angry whenever he spoke like this.
Bin didn't know what to do since this is how he normally speaks.
Just as he was about to say tell the other he was kidding, he saw a big smile starting to widen across the person in front of him. Until he laughed really brightly, causing his eyes to shrink into a line. This was when Bin thought the other guy was good-looking too. Maybe not like his mystery shop owner, but definitely in his own right.
"That's right. Ah, you are an interesting person."
"I am?"
"Yes, very much so. My name is Jinwoo. Park Jinwoo. I'm a music major. You?"
"Moon Bin. Dance major."
"Very nice to meet you Bin. Now, I'll properly ask. Will you be my friend?"
■
Three and a half hours later, Bin and Jinwoo were stuck to each other like two slices of melted cheese. They talked about how their day both suck. That nobody would even give them a single look may it be in their classrooms or at the hallways.
It was like they didn't exist.
They were exchanging stories about their respective majors: Jinwoo shared that he is studying to become a professional music producer someday; Bin said he wanted to build a dance studio and teach interested students on how to maintain regular routines and exercises to ensure they have the fittest body for a dancer.
Both of them were talking when a goosip between two students picked their interest.
"It's been more than two months you know."
"Yeah. Do they have any news?"
"None yet."
Jinwoo and Bin were standing at the side of thr hallway, about ten steps aways from two girls who look like they were waiting for their class to start. The two of them stopped talking, and both waited for the girls to continue what they were talking about.
"It's kinda scary."
"I know. They said something could have happened near our school."
"Not only that. He was a student here you know."
"God, you don't have to remind me. This is crazy."
"I can't go home alone when it's dark anymore."
Both Bin and Jinwoo felt tense, waiting for the next bit of gossip, but the school bell rang, and both girls entered the room as the other students exited. They looked at each other, worry seemed to cloud their faces.
Bin doesn't have a class anymore, Jinwoo said he doesn't have one too, so they looked for an empty room, found one at the end of the corridor, and decided to hang out there for a while.
"That was crazy."
Bin started. He glanced at Jinwoo, who shared the bothered look he has on his face too.
"Yeah. Who do you think they were talking about? They said it was a student here like us."
"I completely have no idea. I told you before I took a break from school right? If I'm not aware of what happened then it probably occured during that time."
"And they said it was more than two months. The same time of you absence."
Bin nodded. What could have happened in the short time he was away? He was very curious. It seemed very serious too. How he wished he could see any of his friend now. Maybe they know something.
"How about you Jinwoo, never heard of anything?"
"Nah. I wonder why nothing reached my ears."
"You're probably always wearing your headphones and busy combining beats."
Jinwoo smiled at Bin's attempt to joke.
"I don't wear them always, mind you. I just don't have many friends."
"That's not something to brag about!"
"Bin?!"
Jinwoo and Bin were laughing at each other when an familiar voice called out Bin's name from the door they left open.
"Minhyuk?!"
They both exclaimed at the same time, causing them to turn their heads at each other, before setting their eyes on Minhyuk, who was now walking across the room, closer to the corner they were seating at.
Seeing that Jinwoo knows Minhyuk's name, Bin thought his longtime friend sure does know people from different groups.
"So you came back today? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Sorry. I really wanted to text you, but I seemed to have lost my phone. I really don't know how though."
"Well that's rough. So how are you?"
Bin and Minhyuk talked. A friendly atmosphere, which Bin really missed was forming around them. Despite that, Jinwoo was silent, just eyeing Minhyuk, looking confused, lost and somehow.. scared. Bin wondered why.
"So, did anything happened here while I was away?"
"Right, you were away so you never heard."
Minhyuk's friendly face suddenly changed. Gloom loomed over, and by instinct, Bin felt like whatever he could hear next is somehow connected to what the two girls were talking about earlier at the hallway.
"Minhyuk, what happened here? Tell me."
"I have friend. From the music department."
Bin eyed Jinwoo. Perhaps this is somehow he knows too?
"He went missing. Around the time you took a break. You know the bakeshop nearest to this school?"
Bin thought back to what he saw earlier this morning. That's what Minhyuk was talking about, probably.
"Yeah. I guess so."
"His things were found near there. But not him. Nobody saw him ever since."
"Well, is there an investigation going?"
"Yeah, of course. But the police couldn't find anything. Atleast not yet."
"I hope they find one soon."
Silence filled the room. Minhyuk looked extremely worried, while Jinwoo still looked scared. He was just staring down, his hands clasped together, his feet firmly on the floor.
"By the way, what's the name of your friend?"
"Oh. Ah." A short silence followed, before Minhyuk uttered the name.
"Park Jinwoo."
"What?"
Confusion, that's what Bin is feeling with every bone of his body. He stared at Minhyuk, before turning to Jinwoo, who is now looking at him, then at Minhyuk, then at him again, repeatedly.
Fear. Doubt. And confusion. Bin was never good at reading somebody else's emotions, but Jinwoo was wearing them, not only on his sleeves, but painted all over his face.
"But Bin,"
Before Bin could even ask for a clarification, Minhyuk looked at him innocently, a different kind of confusion was in his eyes. Unlike the dark mood shrouding Bin and Jinwoo, Minhyuk was just purely wondering about the answer to the question he was going to ask.
"What are doing in this room all alone?"